When You Pray and Feel Nothing
When prayer feels dry or distracted, begin with honesty. A reflection on returning to God without measuring prayer by how you feel.
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Even the dogs eat the scraps
A reflection on Matthew 15:21-28 and Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 I read this Gospel three times before it actually landed on me. My first reaction, if I’m honest, was the same one I imagine a lot of people have: why is Jesus being kind of harsh here? A woman comes running after him, terrified for her…
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Little Faith Is Still Faith
There is a detail at the start of this Gospel that is easy to rush past. Before Jesus walks on the water, before Peter steps out of the boat, before the storm and the rescue, Jesus sends the crowds away and climbs the mountain alone to pray. He does this at the end of a…
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The Field You Cannot Weed
A gardener who has spent any time with darnel knows the particular frustration of it. The weed looks almost exactly like wheat while it is young. The roots tangle underground with the roots of the crop. Pull the darnel and you pull the wheat with it. The only honest option is to wait, let both…
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Memento Mori: Why Catholics Remember Death
There is a phrase that can sound almost unsettling the first time you hear it: Memento mori. Remember that you will die. At first, it can sound grim. Why spend time thinking about death when life already gives us enough to worry about? But the Christian tradition does not remember death because life is meaningless….
